CoinDesk Podcast Network

The largest 50-day rally in stock market history and even stocks of bankrupt companies are up more than 100%. What is going on?

This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace.

Today on the Brief:

Our main topic: The “Robinhood Revolution.” 

The next time someone tells you crypto markets are too irrational or volatile, point them to stock markets right now.

This is the “Robinhood Revolution,” as a horde of day traders are outperforming billionaire investors and commanding the stock market narrative. 

This episode looks at:

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The founder of Popular Front joins NLW for a discussion about protests, media and how the people being covered tend to not reflect divisive politics.

This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace.

On today’s episode of The Breakdown, we introduce the Breakdown Brief - a look at three key topics in bitcoin and crypto. Today, the Brief covers:

Our featured interview is with Jake Hanrahan, founder of Popular Front - a podcast and independent media company covering underreported and irregular conflict with “no frills, no elitism.” Jake was previously an embedded reporter with Vice and has covered conflict in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Ukraine and elsewhere. 

In this conversation, Jake and NLW discuss:

Find our guest online:

Twitter: Jake_Hanrahan

Website: popularfront.co

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'The best Sundays are for long reads and deep conversations. Recently the hosts of the Let's Talk Bitcoin! Show gathered to discuss the systemically important "Be Your Own Bank" Bitcoin narrative and what it means around the world today.

The episode is sponsored by eToro.com and The Internet of Money Vol. 3

On today's episode of Let's Talk Bitcoin! you're invited to join Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Adam B. Levine, Jonathan Mohan and Stephanie Murpy for an in-depth discussion about the ups and downs, the good and the bad about being your own bank in the modern world of Bitcoin.

The powerful idea and meme at the core of Bitcoin self-sovereignty is incredibly empowering but has an unspoken element that requires persistent competence and at least for some makes it more trouble than it's worth.

As the world reels from the response to COVID-19 and disorder seems the trend on the rise, we discuss how although Bitcoin makes it possible for anyone to be their own bank, who actually wants the constant vigilance and anxiety that goes along with it? And what happens when things go wrong and there's no-one to blame but ourselves?

"...There is tremendous luxury in having institutions that at least appear to be stable over some period of time where you don't need to worry about the details of how they work and what happens under failure conditions. That luxury is pretty concentrated in just a few places in the world and at some point you can't afford that luxury of apathy. - Andreas M. Antonopoulos, LTB! #437

Credits

This episode of Let's Talk Bitcoin features Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan, Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Adam B. Levine. Music provided by Jared Rubens, FromEther and Adam B. Levine, with editing by Jonas.

Photo by Pathdoc on Shutterstock

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A recap of one of the most significant weeks in recent American political history.

This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace.

The Breakdown Weekly Recap looks at the key themes that shaped the week. On this week’s episode, NLW discusses:

This week on The Breakdown:

Monday | The Power and Peril of the 'Bitcoin Fixes This' Meme 

• A look at what role, if any, bitcoin has to play in remaking the world that is being protested around the U.S. (and world) this week.

Tuesday | Bitcoin, Cellphones and the Citizen Tools of Anti-Authoritarianism, Feat. Alex Gladstein

• A look at the anti-authoritarian technology stack, including where non-state money like bitcoin fits in.

Wednesday | 5 Numbers That Tell the Story of Markets Right Now

• From the number of U.S. flights from Chinese carriers to S&P 500 growth in the tumultuous year of 1968, these (unexpected) numbers tell the story of today’s markets.

Thursday | The Mirage of the Money Printer: Why the Fed Is More PR Than Policy, Feat. Jeffrey P. Snider

• An argument that the Fed is actually highly ineffectual due to the presence of the eurodollar shadow-banking system.

Friday | The Biggest Realignment in the US-China Relationship Since Nixon, Feat. Graham Webster

• A 101-level primer on the history of the U.S.-China relationship, and why today’s bluster represents a fundamental shift. 

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How one of the world’s most important geopolitical relationships came to be what it is in 2020.

This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace.

The U.S.-China relationship has an outsized impact on global economics and politics. As that relationship comes even more into focus in the wake of COVID-19, this episode provides a historical primer. 

Graham Webster is editor-in-chief of the Stanford–New America DigiChina Project at the Stanford University Cyber Policy Center. He’s also a China digital economy fellow at the New America think tank.

In this episode, Webster explains:

Find our guest online:

Twitter: gwbstr

DigiChina

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The meme is “money printer go brrr,” but according to this macro expert, central banks have almost no power to actually influence money itself.

This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace.

The conventional wisdom is that central banks are the most important economic actors in the world. Markets hang on their every word. 

Yet, what if that power has less to do with actual monetary policy and more to do with how the performance of that policy creates a self-fulfilling prophecy as market actors respond to media coverage?

Jeff Snider is the head of global research at Alhambra Investments. In this conversation, he and NLW explore:

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U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last Thursday, seeking to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 prevents social media companies from civil liability for the content posted on them. The order targets Twitter and Facebook after Twitter fact-checked two of the President’s tweets. 

Today, CoinDesk tackles the topic with Chief Content Officer Michael Casey, Privacy Reporter Benjamin Powers, New York Law School professor and past President of the American Civil Liberties Union Nadine Strossen, and author of the Open Index Protocol Amy James

This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace.

On this podcast, the CoinDesk team brings listeners up to speed on the leadup to and aftermath of the executive order, discuss the fairness implications of editorializing on social media, the business models that enable and are empowered by all of this, and how decentralized protocols can chart an alternative path forward.

First we talk about the first amendment and Section 230 itself, what it does and doesn’t do as it pertains to social media platforms and moderation. 

Then we talk about fairness and the if you don’t-like-it-leave argument, as well as related topics

We’ll talk about the business models and assumptions implicit in the current state of dominant social media platforms before turning to alternatives or possible solutions in decentralized protocols and multi-layered approaches to moderation or censorship.

Links from the episode:

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Every day that protests continue and the stock market goes up, more people ask what the disconnect between markets and the real economy is. In this episode of The Breakdown, NLW peels back the story of today’s economy by looking at five numbers:

This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace.

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A conversation with the outspoken pro-bitcoin, anti-surveillance human rights advocate and global power expert.

This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace.

Alex Gladstein is the chief strategy officer of the Human Rights Foundation. He is a powerful voice for the role of bitcoin in combating authoritarianism around the globe. 

In today's episode, he and NLW discuss: 

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As the U.S. experiences the most sustained civil disobedience in more than a generation, an exploration of what role bitcoin has to play in building a better system.

This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace.

Cities around the country have been engulfed in protest in the wake of the murder of 46-year-old black man George Floyd. There is an intense battle for the narrative around the protests. Are they legitimate outcries against institutional racism and police brutality? Is the looting covertly being driven by white supremacists on the one hand or ANTIFA on the other? 

In the Bitcoin community, some have plumbed the “Bitcoin Fixes This” meme to argue that the core underlying issue has to do with a monetary system that structurally creates inequality. Others have clapped back against pushing that meme in this moment. 

In this episode of The Breakdown, NLW looks at:

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